Newly released surveillance video shows the moment when a man was shot inside a Hialeah mini-mart by the store's owner.
Police said Jorge Mesa, the 30-year-old store owner, shot 34-year-old customer Antoine Perry inside the La Gloria mini-mart near the Tri-Rail station at 1120 East 25 Street on May 13 following an altercation.
At some point, Mesa told Perry to leave the store, Hialeah Police said. In-store surveillance video shows the two continuing to argue. Mesa points the gun at Perry, but Perry doesn't appear to back away. Eventually Perry starts to leave, but pushes down a food stand on his way out. Mesa then allegedly shoots the customer twice, once in the thigh and once in the knee, according to police.
The new video also shows the moments following the gunfire, as Perry struggles to walk after being shot.
Police charged Mesa with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and he has since been released on bond. Florida's "stand your ground" law doesn't apply to property. Officials have said it did not appear that Mesa's life was in danger and that it's possible the customer had psychological problems.
While Mesa did not want to speak on camera, he said the surveillance video doesn't capture the full story.
Sergio Olmer, an employee who witnessed the incident, said Perry had been a nuisance at the store multiple times.
A customer told NBC 6 he'd personally heard Perry make threatening statements in the past.
"I was here that first time, he said he was going to come back and get him," said the customer, who did not want to be identified.
Mesa's wife, who was behind the register at the time of the shooting, said in Spanish that her husband isn't a violent man and that she and her family felt threatened.
"He wasn't a welcome person," Carifel Suarez Mesa said in Spanish. "This wasn't a one-day thing, but the police didn't do anything about it."
Meanwhile, police are trying to figure out what exactly happened.
"We're trying to find out why he shot them," said Hialeah Police spokesman Carl Zogby. "Was it self defense? Or was it just a heated argument? Apparently there's some sort of history between the two."
Perry was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital following the shooting and treated for his injuries.
It is unclear if Mesa has an attorney.
Source NBC 6
